


Soft

by la_comtesse



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Dates, Coffee Shops, Eavesdropping, F/F, Mentions of other Afterglow members
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 08:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17505353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_comtesse/pseuds/la_comtesse
Summary: Hazawa Tsugumi saw a lot of different people come into her family's coffee shop, but this time, it was a surprise.





	Soft

Working at her family's cafe, Hazawa Tsugumi had the tendency of running into familiar faces from her school or her band life. Most frequently, someone from Afterglow would stop by for a visit, especially Himari, who liked to vent on her off hours. Sometimes, someone from Pastel*Palettes would come in to say hi to Tsugumi's coworker, Eve. (Tsugumi, being a secretive idol fan who may or may not have kept a fanmade Pastel*Palettes stage outfit in her closet, would always look forward to these visits.) Of all the band girls, those were the usual customers. So Tsugumi was not prepared when, during one slow afternoon, a certain lavender-haired vocalist from a very famous local band burst through the cafe’s doors and rushed to the counter. A taller girl, holding the cafe door open with one arm and balancing a stack of music magazines in another, followed shortly after. Once inside, she heaved an exasperated sigh, brushed turquoise hair away from her eyes, and flipped her braid--a single, beautifully woven coil down her back--over her shoulder. She called out to her friend.

“Mi-Minato-san! There's no need to rush! There's no one here… Ah, Hazawa-san, hello!” The girl in question noticed Tsugumi from behind the counter and waved.

“Sayo-san! And Yukina-senpai, too? What's up?” Tsugumi called out, addressing both girls. Admittedly, she was quite startled by the sudden intrusion. Roselia was a band known for their complete dedication to their craft, and they didn't do things like take coffee breaks in the middle of the day when they could have been practicing. At least, not their founding members and the strictest musicians of the bunch, Minato Yukina and Hikawa Sayo, who had just come running into the cafe like their music careers were on the line.

Tsugumi moved quickly, grabbing a pair of menus from their spot next to the register--almost tripping on the way--and placing them at a small table, where she pulled out the chairs and gestured for Sayo and Yukina to sit. She also helped Sayo with the bundle of magazines in her arm, setting them on the table to the side where they wouldn't get in the way. Sayo muttered her thanks and apologised, earning a protest from Tsugumi, while Yukina simply nodded and gestured to the display by the counter.

“That new menu item. Is it available right now?” Yukina, ever the diva in Afterglow's eyes, always spoke like she owned the place, and now was no exception. Tsugumi's eyes followed where she had gestured, and when she saw what Yukina was referring to, she giggled. “Ah, yes, of course! We just added it recently… Cat marshmallows! We can serve any of our coffees and teas with them. You have a choice between the floating cats--there are three colors--and the cat paws! Which would you like?” Tsugumi instantly launched into her salesperson mode. Even though they were all band girls, Sayo was a friend of hers, and Yukina was a senpai at her school, they were still customers, after all.

“I'll order all of them.” Yukina's response was immediate, and her dull bronze eyes seemed to flash gold upon her declaration. Yukina was so serious and determined to get to business that it would have made Tsugumi nervous, if not for the fact that Yukina was literally just ordering a bunch of cat-shaped marshmallows. 

“All of them? Like, all the colors too?”

“Yes.”

“Minato-san, you have to order a drink, too…” finally Sayo spoke up, twisting and untwisting a a lock of her hair. Was it just Tsugumi's imagination, or did Sayo seem… flustered? In any case, Tsugumi brushed her thoughts aside to address her customers.

“Yes! Yukina-senpai, did you want a coffee? We have a brand new latte as well that would go great with the marshmallows.”

“Is that so? I'll get that too, then. Just a regular size is fine. And is it sweet?”

“Eh? Yes, it has brown sugar, plus the marshmallows… I can adjust the sweetness if you'd like?”

“Ah… No, that should be fine. Can you serve some sugar on the side?”

“Got it! And you, Sayo-san?” Tsugumi turned to her friend and smiled warmly. Sayo, in turn, cleared her throat and seemed almost shy when she asked the next question.

“Hazawa-san… are there… dog marshmallows too?” 

There it was. Tsugumi had an idea of how fond Sayo was of dogs, and she felt a little bad when she answered. “N-no, I'm so sorry! We just have the cats. But I can look into adding them for you. Chisato-san came in the other day with the same question. Guess we need to have something for dog lovers too!” Tsugumi chuckled awkwardly and offered her best apologetic smile.

Sayo looked down at her fingers before she resumed eye contact with Tsugumi. “I see… well, I like cats too. Can I have the pale cat with the dark ears?” 

“The Siamese colorway? Of course! And will you be taking the same order as Yukina-senpai?”

“Yes. Thank you, Hazawa-san.”

“Good choice.” Yukina smiled at her companion, who seemed to flush in response.

Tsugumi looked between them for a moment. Then she nodded and quickly gathered their menus so that she could get to work on the coffees. Tsugumi took her place once more behind the counter and looked around for the bag of cat marshmallows. They were new shipments, and the supply had already been reduced to below half. The Hazawas added the marshmallows to the menu as part of a new trend--originally suggested by Himari, actually--and they turned out to be quite the hit. Tsugumi made a note to order some more later, and to maybe look into dog versions for more discerning customers like Sayo and Shirasagi Chisato. 

Once Tsugumi had the marshmallows, she set them aside and started on the coffee. Curious, she looked across the cafe to where Sayo and Yukina were sitting. Sayo's face lit up as she spoke with her companion. She seemed to be referring to something in one of the music magazines she'd purchased, and had gestured excitedly on the page. Yukina was more quiet, but offered her opinions when prompted. Tsugumi had never seen Sayo like that before, except for maybe one time when she was finally able to make a successful batch of musical instrument-shaped cookies at the Hazawa baking class that Tsugumi and her mother taught. Tsugumi still remembered that class fondly--Sayo had struggled to get the shapes just right so that she could present them to her band and its resident baker, Imai Lisa, without shame. Anyway, at that moment, speaking with Yukina, Sayo looked happy. Enthusiastic, even. Tsugumi had the passing thought that she looked eerily like her much more outgoing sister, Hina. Sayo and Hina were twins after all, but their expressions were usually wildly different. And Sayo's eyes never sparkled like they did now. If Tsugumi didn't know any better--didn't know about the highly professional relationship between the members of Roselia--she would have assumed that Sayo and Yukina were on a date. 

Tsugumi poured the espresso shots into two small cups. After that, she proceeded to heat up the milk, making sure that it was just the right level of foaminess. Gingerly, she poured the milk into the cups. She realized then that she hadn't asked Yukina how she wanted the cats arranged, so she looked again across the cafe to ask. 

This time, both Sayo and Yukina were more subdued. Tsugumi watched as Sayo placed her hand on top of Yukina's left hand, then said something that Tsugumi couldn't quite catch. As if she sensed that someone was watching, Sayo's head snapped up and she withdrew her hand. “Ah… Hazawa-san, is something the matter?”

Tsugumi chuckled awkwardly. “Um, I wanted to ask Yukina-senpai a question, actually! Senpai, how did you want the cats arranged? Did you want them all in the cup, or on the side?” 

At that, Yukina twisted to meet Tsugumi's gaze, her right arm braced on the back of the chair and her other hand still on the table, where it had previously been pinned down by Sayo. Yukina's eyes were uncharacteristically wide as she spoke. “I… I can have them on the side? Can… can I do that then? I… want to look at them before I put them in the coffee…” Yukina's voice trailed off. She seemed to notice how out-of-character she was at that moment, because she made an apparent attempt to regain her composure soon afterward. “A-and thank you, Hazawa-san.”

Tsugumi smiled and did as Yukina requested, arranging the cats and cat paws artfully on a small platter. Yukina-senpai was a surprise today. It was kind of endearing how she was so excited about the cat marshmallows. Now, Tsugumi realized, that must have been the reason she was running to the cafe. Tsugumi thought about how much she learned about Sayo when Sayo first enrolled in the Hazawa cooking class. Sayo seemed scary at first, but she was actually just awkward and surprisingly sweet underneath it all. Watching Yukina, Tsugumi was getting that feeling now, even though she wasn't even really speaking that much to her. The bashful way in which Yukina and Sayo were acting was much closer to how Tsugumi's other senpai, Lisa, described them. “This is the real Roselia…” Tsugumi mused under her breath, as she dusted some brown sugar over the two lattes to finish them off.

Tsugumi stepped back to look at the lattes and, pleased with her work, she gathered the cups and the mini platters and carefully made her way over to Sayo and Yukina's table.

“Here you go! Two brown sugar lattes with extra cat marshmallows! I really hope you guys like it!” Tsugumi bowed and presented the lattes. When she looked at Yukina's face, she was taken aback. Yukina's eyes were large and sparkled almost like actual gold as she exclaimed, “C-cute! These are so cute!” She quickly shut up after that, noticing what must have been an amused look on Tsugumi's face.

Sayo covered her mouth in response to Yukina's reaction, as if to hide her expression, before nodding to Tsugumi. “Thank you very much, Hazawa-san. I'm sure that it will be delicious.” Then, she smiled. A big, bright, genuine smile. That sort of thing was exceedingly rare from Sayo. Tsugumi bowed again and excused herself so that the two could enjoy their lattes. But--and she did feel guilty about it, since eavesdropping on her senpai wasn't something she liked to do--she also secretly wanted to observe the two stoic leaders of Roselia as they indulged in cute marshmallow-laden lattes. If Tsugumi were more like Moca, she'd have been snapping pictures and sending it to the Afterglow group chat and maybe Lisa's private DMs, but Tsugumi was not Moca, and so Sayo and Yukina's reputations would remain intact.

Tsugumi watched as Sayo took a small, calculated sip from her own drink, then frowned as the Siamese cat marshmallow bumped her nose. Yukina chuckled--chuckled?--as it did so.

Sayo blushed. “Minato-san, aren't you going to have your drink? The marshmallows are just sitting there…”

“I will later. Right now, I just want to watch you.” Yukina made for the sugar and dropped a few cubes into her already-sweetened latte, as Sayo turned even redder than before. If that color reached her hair instead, she would have looked like Tomoe.

Tsugumi's own heart, meanwhile, skipped a beat. Was she watching a scene from one of her shoujo manga? She didn't think that people made comments like that in real life, but then again, she also didn't think that the cool and collected Minato Yukina-senpai of Roselia was a secret cat lover who turned into mush at the sight of paw-shaped marshmallows. Tsugumi was learning a lot on this day.

“Of course, if you say so, Minato-san.” Sayo's eyes shifted to the side, away from Yukina, anywhere but Yukina, it seemed. She was blushing furiously. 

Yukina spoke again. “Cute.”

“Wh-wha--”

“The marshmallows are very cute. They're quite detailed, don't you think? I especially like the way the calico was made.” Yukina finally decided to take a sip of her drink. “Oh, this is quite good.” 

“O-oh. Yes, it is quite good, isn't it? Though, Minato-san, like I said, there was no need to rush here... Hazawa Coffee is always open.”

“So it is.”

The conversation ended there, with Yukina apparently looking between Sayo and the marshmallows, which had been left untouched as she sipped her drink. For whatever reason, Yukina didn't want to eat them. Sayo shifted around nervously, then remembered where they were.

At that moment, she suddenly spoke up, making her voice louder so that she could address Tsugumi. “Wakamiya-san's not here today?” she asked.

“Oh, her shift doesn't start until later! It's just me right now, ehehe.” Tsugumi perked up from her spot behind the counter, trying not to make it extremely obvious that she'd just been watching her two senpai.

“Is that so? Well, don't work yourself too hard, Hazawa-san.” As always, Sayo was polite. Maybe overly so. But, Tsugumi supposed, that was part of her charm. Yukina must have thought so too, with the way she was acting right now. The look in her eyes as she glanced at Sayo almost matched the way she looked at the cats. Almost.

Sayo and Yukina continued like that for a while, quietly talking amongst themselves while drinking their lattes. Sayo handed some of the music magazines over to Yukina, who took them with a smile and said a few things that Tsugumi couldn't quite decipher but assumed were thanks for the gifts. The sky outside had gotten darker, and as customers slowly streamed into the shop, Tsugumi diverted her attention away from her two senpai and attended to other people's orders. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Sayo stood up, empty cup in hand. “Practice will be starting in an hour… Let's start early, Minato-san.” 

Yukina got up as well, gathering her own empty cup and the plate, which had the untouched marshmallows.

Tsugumi rushed over. “Ah, you don't have to clean that up! I-I can do it!” 

Sayo was hesitant. “Are you sure, Hazawa-san? Minato-san and I can put our dishes away. We may be on our way to practice, but this is the least we can do.”

Tsugumi shook her head. “No, it's okay, really! Eve-chan should be coming in soon, so I won't be the only one here for long!” She motioned for Sayo and Yukina to set their dishes down, which they did, and then she gave Yukina a questioning look as she took the plate with the marshmallows.

“Did… Did you want these to go, Yukina-senpai?”

“Yes, if possible. Thank you, Hazawa-san. The coffee was wonderful.” Yukina nodded.

Sayo echoed Yukina's statement. Tsugumi put the marshmallows in a small, clear box, handing them off to Yukina, who gazed at the box in adoration for the briefest of moments before she and Sayo thanked Tsugumi again and gathered their belongings. 

By the time they left, Tsugumi was in the middle of taking an order, but she glanced up just in time to wave goodbye to the two Roselia members. She still felt bad about listening in on them earlier, but it couldn't be helped, right? Everyone else would have done the same if they saw Yukina and Sayo like this… Or at least that's what she told herself. It was a rare occurrence, after all. As they walked out the door, the bell letting out a pleasant little jingle to signal their departure, Tsugumi resolved to keep the encounter to herself. The rest of Afterglow would probably just tease the two about it if they heard.

And if she noticed the way Sayo squeezed Yukina's hand as she followed her vocalist out the door, she wouldn't say anything, either.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on AO3, and I wanted it to be about one of my favorite Bandori rarepairs! I'd like to thank Seigetsu_Ren for encouraging me to get back into creative writing, and chuunihatboi for reading it. Please let me know what you think!


End file.
